Reviews and questions about the entry-level MPC500
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By RivolverOcelot Tue Mar 20, 2007 7:50 am
Ok i can sit here and type in detail what im going through but then this topic would be entirely too long . All i want to do is make a track listen to it and say thats hot . I would like to simply record a track , song etc with 500 and open my work listen to it in its entirety and drag and drop on my ipod or put on myspace . No i was told i need either garage band , sonar, ableton, PROTOOLS . Fine i had sonar but i had to reinstall my OP system so now it wont reinstall thats another story. Now im usning abelton live 6.0.3 fine ableton recognizes the mpc and when you hit the pads you see the lights lit up . So the program recieves midi fine but no sound only sound i hear is if i take the headphones and put them in mpc . what to do ? If i use mpc and delete all sequences and create and name a new program , assign pads to my likeing and record my sequences use song mode and repeat each sequence. Press play when all done the joint sounds hot . So im like alright lets save this and put in on my PC . So i save everything PROGRAM SEQUENCES ,MEMORY ETC . Plugin USB and open folder on PC and either there are no audio files or the sequences are there but when i open those they are like 8 to 10 seconds and nothin i recorded with mpc . I thought by gettin an MPC it would make my production skills better being im really nice with reason 3.04 but now its like a major headache . PLEASE HELP WHY DOES LIFE HAVE TO BE SO HARD ?
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By Upright Tue Mar 20, 2007 12:12 pm
I heard a guy say that he resampled his completed tracks . This will turn your work into one .WAV, then when you save your ENTIRE MEMORY open up the project on the PC then drag and drop the resampled wav from the 500 to your PC.This should work until you figure out how to record to your PC with your software. Hope this helps. :D

BTW your probably going to need the 128MB ram upgrade to resample your track/s

By oraziodelcore Tue Mar 20, 2007 3:22 pm
Make sure to have a 128mb ram expansion installed
in order to resample an complete track

It works nice!
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By SimonInAustralia Tue Mar 20, 2007 7:47 pm
You do not need any audio/MIDI software on your computer.

You can resample/record the MPC500 Main Outputs back into the MPC500 as a new sample, while the MPC500 sequencer is playing your sequence.

This will create a new sample that is a recording of the full MPC500 sequence/track.

You might need to trim off any empty space at the beginning and end of the new sample.

You can then save this new sample onto a CF card, and then load that sample into your computer to put into itunes/myspace/whatever.

You do not have to save the entire memory, just to save this new sample.

You might need the expanded memory for the MPC500, depending on how long the track is that you want to record, and how much memory is available in the MPC500 with the sequence/program/etc. loaded into the MPC500 memory.
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By Upright Tue Mar 20, 2007 7:58 pm
:lol:
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By RivolverOcelot Wed Mar 21, 2007 6:53 am
Thanks guys ill give it a try . PEACE .... Hey quick question when im recording am i using record in ? Or main ? which one .. ? Thanks again
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By Upright Wed Mar 21, 2007 11:42 am
Main. :D
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By SimonInAustralia Wed Mar 21, 2007 6:37 pm
Record In is used to record anything that is plugged into the MPC500 Record In inputs.

Main is used to directly record anything that is being played out the MPC500 outputs.

Choose Main, start recording, press the Play button on the MPC500 to start your sequence playing, after the sequence has finished playing, stop the recording. Then you might want to trim the start/end points of the sample to remove the silence before and after the recording of your sequence. And save that new sample onto your CF card for loading into your computer.
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By RivolverOcelot Thu Mar 22, 2007 6:15 am
Now will this record my entire sequence ? Or will it record just a few seconds of it ? Also i dont have my Mpc hooked up to anything meaning i just have it plugged in . Also i only have the 128 MB sound library card do i need another card ? And what in the H#ll is a cf card ? Yeah noobie questions but we all have to learn somewhere .. Thanks .. PeAcE ..

By DJ_Mike_Coquilla Thu Mar 22, 2007 7:27 am
nice tip :)

just curious...while the final wav also include any pads or mutes that i may happen to do on the fly...
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By SimonInAustralia Thu Mar 22, 2007 8:22 am
RivolverOcelot wrote:Now will this record my entire sequence ? Or will it record just a few seconds of it ? Also i dont have my Mpc hooked up to anything meaning i just have it plugged in . Also i only have the 128 MB sound library card do i need another card ? And what in the H#ll is a cf card ? Yeah noobie questions but we all have to learn somewhere .. Thanks .. PeAcE ..
THE MPC500 will record for as long as you have available memory, and from when you press start-record to when you press stop-record.

You do not need anything but your MPC500.

The 128MB Sound Library Card is a CF (Compact Flash) card.

There are two types of memory used in the MPC500 (actually 3 types, but we will just worry about the two main types now)...
1. The CF card is used to store samples/programs/sequences for long(er) term storage, it is like a disk drive, that keeps it's memory when you turn the power off.

2. The other type of memory is the RAM (Random Access Memory), which the MPC500 uses like it's brain, when you load samples/programs/sequences off of the CF card, or when you record a sample/create a program or sequence, it is stored in the internal MPC500 RAM. You lose this data if you turn the power off, that is why you have to save it from the internal RAM onto the CF card to keep it for later use.

You can get various size CF cards for long term data storage.

The MPC500 comes with 16MB of internal RAM as standard, you can upgrade this to 128MB with an optional memory 'chip'. You can only load and record samples up to the limit of the internal RAM. 44.1KHz/16bit digital audio (what the MPC500 uses for it's samples) takes up 5MB per minute per track, so 10MB per minute if stereo. 16MB of standard memory gives you 1.6 minutes of stereo recording time. Your samples take up this RAM as well. You would most probably need the 128MB RAM upgrade to do anything useful, as the internal 16MB of RAM is not much.
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By RivolverOcelot Fri Mar 23, 2007 6:10 am
Hey i must say your help and the help of others on this site is phenominal . I just hope you and the community can be patient . Everyone was a noob at one time . I have to say thanks but still questions linger . I hear stuff from various sources such as hey your going to need PROTOOLS to do anything legit . I use Reason and now im learning ableton live but if i remember you saying that you dont need any music software . So ill get the 128 mb then . Just frustrated thats all , one thing i can say since joining here and playing with the 500 everynight ive learned alot . I just hope one day i can put an entire track together and expose it to the outside world . Well thanks again and ya'll be EASY ... Thanks again PEacE ................
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By RivolverOcelot Fri Mar 23, 2007 6:23 am
Hey its me again quick question How do record your tracks ? If you dont mind i know sometimes typing sucks but if you can give a step by step quick tutorial on how you do your work that might help me be able to take my music with me .. IPOD ETC .. If its no bother id really appreciate it man . Of course after i purchase that 128 MB you were talking about thanks man .. PEACE ..

By DJ_Mike_Coquilla Sat Mar 24, 2007 3:26 am
i'm sure i'm not alone when i say i read as much threads / posts as i can to gather info / tips.

as with Rane / Serato Scratch Live's user forum, i have gained so much info that isn't mentioned in the manuals... and continue to look forward to more and more info.

thanks to all for spreading & sharing your knowledge (all you big grass hoppas :)